Photographers- what do you look for in a camera?

There have been threads about certain cameras recommendations. But, I'm wanting to know what features to look for.

 

In the photoshop class I went to today the instructor said to not worry about getting over 10 megapixels & to be more concerned with the size of the sensor.

 

Any more tips about what is important?

 

I want to buy a nice camera for a hobbiest. I don't wan't to break the bank with a pro camera, but I don't want to spend too little & get something that isn't that good. I was thinking I'd budget around $500, but I haven't sstarted researching yet. I'm an avid slickdeal watcher so I'll probably be saving about $100 or so off full price. I want get something to start with & then buy other pieces as I go along.

 

I haven't started my research yet, but I was thinking something like the canon rebel. I already have a nice point & shoot, but I want to start photographing in RAW so I can have even more photoshop fun with my pictures.

Good thread Morgan. I have been researching DSLR's so much lately and I finally decided on the Nikon D40 with the 18-55mm lens (incl in package) and the 55-200mm VR lens. I did alot of research on slickdeals too haha, gosh i love that website.

 

What kind of hobbiest photography are you looking into? I have more of a nature/portrait type interest. How did you find your photoshop class? I've self taught myself and I'm thinking I may be missing out on a "real" lesson

Mostly I love great pictures. I plan on photographing the same stuff i do now, just better. My favorites are pictures of people laughing. On vacations I like taking pictures of buildings & beautiful landscapes. So i probably won't do any particular type of picture. I just want to have better pictures & the ability to do more with them. The more i learn about photoshop, the more i want raw files. At events, I love capturing great moments. But often the picture will be too dark because we are outside or in a poorly lit room. So i want to take these pictures where the expressions are great & improve the quality of the image.

The class is for duke students & staff. They have a summer program with a bunch of technology classes. I'm also taking illustrator & dreamweaver.

I started learning just by looking tips up on the internet & playing around with it. Then i bought a Scott Kelby book after I got CS3. The main problem was that I didn't understand many of the basics. I'd adjust my levels & curves, but I didn't know what I was actually doing. So this class was great to get a simple explaination and understand when a picture needs what. I really think it will give me the understanding i need to start improving my editing.

once I get more comfortable with it, I might post some stuff on photo.net for a critique. or let the photographers here critique me if they promise to be nice

I have the Sony Alpha DSLR, and love it. When we got it last year it was about $900.00 and we purchased another lens for about $300.00 (Macro lens is next on my list) I've also been looking around for a photoshop class, I've seen them online but I want to have someone actually work with me on it. I have shot in Raw, however because I suck at photoshop right now I figured why bother, so for now I shoot in manual and auto.

 

I love taking pictures of landscape type pictures and of course our furbabies, don't think I'll ever get into portrait unless I have a child and might experiment on him/her.

BTW, Morgan you should start posting a before and after pictures. Shoot I think it would be fun for anyone interested in learning how to edit pictures to see the difference.

I did find a class to be SO helpful. I have been having the hardest time figuring something out & I learned today I was not clicking on the right little box. So a class can really be helpful for getting going because if you get stuck on something you can just ask for assistance. It was just 1 1/2 hours, but with that little bit of instruction I know I'll be able to do so much more now & pick things up faster.

This is great. I would like to get a new camera and want to get a great one that will take great photos. I love taking pics, and now that I have my kids, I would really like to be able to kick up the quality of the pics I take of them. Any info from the pros would be great.

I've tried to follow a book on photoshop but I need the basic stuff before I get into the stuff from the book I had. Like I learned out to lasso a picture, but I have no clue how to change the background yet. I also learned how to layer. However I must say all those short keys are confusing me to right now.

I agree Tammy. I would be interested in seeing the difference!

for me one thing that's pretty important in a camera is how it performs in low light. I want the latitude to be able to crank up the ISO, but I also want usable (and not super noisy) photos.

If you plan to shoot RAW, then you should definitely check the speed (fps) and the buffer - I have a Fuji S5Pro that I absolutely love, but I can't shoot it raw because it's too slow.


the other thing that's pretty important to consider is the lenses
good glass can make the world of difference in the quality of photographs you take
and, if you start off with a decent camera body you can always upgrade and invest in glass over time so it doesn't break the bank

both Canon and Nikon tend to make great consumer DSLR bodies - I've heard good things about the Canon Rebel and the Nikon D40 (I'm a Nikon gal myself
one of the best sites for camera reviews is dpreview.com

Happy shopping! (and feel free to pm me if you have other questions - I'm a total photo geek and will happily talk shop any time